August 30, 2024 – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the City of Dallas and the State Fair of Texas for unlawfully prohibiting firearms from government-owned public property in violation of Texas law.
Earlier in August, the Office of the Attorney General gave the City of Dallas fifteen days’ notice to reverse the Texas State Fair’s recently announced prohibition of firearms in Fair Park before a lawsuit would be filed. Fair Park is owned by the City of Dallas which contracts with the State Fair of Texas for the management of the annual fair. Since state law permits gun owners to carry in places owned or leased by government entities unless otherwise statutorily prohibited, the prohibition represented an unlawful infringement on Texans’ legal rights. Dallas and the State Fair have refused to comply with state law.
Attorney General Paxton asked the court to grant injunctive relief to prevent the City of Dallas or the State Fair of Texas from enforcing the unlawful ban on firearms.
“Municipalities cannot nullify state law nor can they avoid accountability by contracting official functions to nominally third parties,” said Attorney General Paxton. “Neither the City of Dallas nor the State Fair of Texas can infringe on Texans’ right to self-defense. I warned fifteen days ago that if they did not end their unlawful conduct I would see them in court, and now I will.”
